S enate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) deplores that the quest for justice of the family of abduction victim Jonas Burgos has not yielded concrete results in the courts even after the Burgoses availed of the extraordinary writ of amparo crafted by Chief Justice Reynaldo Puno.

Senator Pimentel deplored that the men in the military establishment suspected of having perpetrated the abduction of Burgos, a political activist, remain scot-free two years after his disappearance despite available evidence of their involvement in the gruesome crime.

Editor’s Note: Here is the latest update from TIME magazine about the case of the abducted Jonas Burgos:

He noted that Edita Burgos, the victim’s mother, filed a writ of amparo with the Court of Appeals as a remedy to expedite the investigation and prosecution of the case on the part of justice and judicial authorities concerned. As a final solution, he said Mrs. Burgos went to the Supreme Court in her effort to trace the whereabouts of Jonas and to unmask and punish the culprits.

“But up to now, there seems to be no action from the Supreme Court,” the minority leader said.

“My understanding is even the writ of amparo has gone nowhere. And so even the extraordinary writ of amparo formulated by Chief Justice Puno is found ineffectual. Where will the families of these abducted victims now go to seek redress for of grievances?”

*Editor’s Note: Amparo is a form of constitutional relief found in the legal systems of various Latin-American countries and the Philippines.

S enator Pimentel said it is also appalling that Mrs. Burgos strongly suspected that the abduction case involving her son has hardly moved in the prosecution stage because of a cover-up by concerned officials in the civilian and military agencies, probably due to pressure or order from higher-ups.

“I cannot imagine a situation where there is a cover-up of a crime like this happening and being tolerated under a so-called democratic regime,” he said.

Senator Pimentel said that Jonas Burgos was an agriculturist who willingly shared his expertise to the farmers of Bulacan in his desire to uplift their economic condition. But he became a target for abduction due to his alleged active involvement in the underground communist movement.

“But whether the allegation that he was a communist insurgent was true or not, I don’t think that the solution was to abduct him.And I hope that this was not what happened to him – exterminating him under very cruel and dubious circumstances.”

Mr. Pimentel said although Jonas was the son of the late journalist Jose Burgos, Jr., a personal friend, he did not know him and he doubted if he had met him.

“Whether or not he is the son of Joe Burgos, what is important is the life of every citizen in this country is precious. And under the law, the officials of this land has the responsibility to do everything to try to locate the whereabouts of Jonas Burgos and bring the culprits to justice,” he said.

Senator Pimentel said that retired Gen. Jovito Palparan, who was the commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division a unit of which (56th Infantry Battalion) reportedly owned a car with plate number TAB 194 in which Burgos was driven at the time of his abduction. Palparan, he said, was rewarded by being proclaimed duly-elected party-list congressman.

He said Palparan is a fellow Mindanaonon, and like him, hailed from Cagayan de Oro City.

“But we certainly are not proud of the achievements that seemed to have etched his colorful career as an officer of the armed forces,” the senator said.

Jonas Burgos was forcibly taken away from a Quezon City restaurant in broad daylight. # # #